AfterShock × IATSE × Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware
Amplify Buildworks
The IATSE Training Pipeline — where youth build a professional sound system, run it for pay, and step onto a union career path.
A STEM program that ends in a paycheck.
Amplify Buildworks is an out-of-school-time program that uses hands-on audio engineering as the entry point to STEM, music, and real careers.
Young people build a professional-grade sound system from scratch — learning physics, electronics, and acoustics — then operate it, earn from it, and follow a direct pathway into unionized live-production work. It grew from AfterShock’s belief that a sound system is more than gear: it’s a platform to give ideas a stage and bring communities together.Young people build a professional-grade sound system from scratch — learning physics, electronics, and acoustics — then operate it, earn from it, and follow a direct pathway into unionized live-production work.
Talent is everywhere. Access isn’t. The system your youth build stays at your Club as a permanent, revenue-generating asset.
Build → Operate → Earn → Career
One program, four phases, each with its own age band and its own output. A young person can enter at seven and leave at nineteen on a path toward union membership.One program, four phases, each with its own age band and its own output.
Components from B&C Speakers · designs from the High Order Quarter-wave Society (HOQS) · trained on Yamaha DM3-D.Components from B&C Speakers · designs from HOQS · trained on Yamaha DM3-D.
- 01Phase 1 · Build — ages 7–18Speaker Building
Ages 7–18 build a professional-grade sound system from scratch — learning physics, electronics, and acoustics. Components from B&C Speakers; designs from HOQS.
Output — a working system - 02Phase 2 · OperateDeploy & Mix
Setup, placement, tuning, phase alignment, and live mixing — signal flow, gain staging, monitors, and soundcheck on a Yamaha DM3-D console.
Output — a crew that can run it - 03Phase 3 · Earn — ages 14–17Paid Audio Gigs
Teens (14–17) earn roughly $100 per event running real system rentals and event support. Built systems stay at the Club as a revenue-generating asset.
Output — ~$100 per event - 04Phase 4 · Career — ages 18+Union Pipeline
At 18+, participants enter free IATSE crew training, then a paid 6-month shadow apprenticeship ($500/mo stipend), then full-time production internships.
Output — $500/mo & a union pathway
Who wins when you host a build
One program, three lasting wins — but you are reading this because of the first one.
A build is a term, not a day. Your Club keeps the system afterwards.
The system your youth build stays at your Club — professional A/V at no ongoing rental cost, and it generates rental revenue. We bring the model, the mentors, and the partners; you bring the room and the young people.
Hands-on STEM skills, real income as a teen crew, and a direct line to union careers in live production.
A diverse, well-trained pipeline of crew who learned on real gear from day one.
The 2024 Newark Pilot
We ran the Sound System Culture & Speaker Building Workshop with Maverick Studios at the Greater Newark Boys & Girls Club. Youth built a complete sound system over the program and closed it out with a student-produced public showcase at Newark’s new playground — performing on the very system they built.We ran the Sound System Culture & Speaker Building Workshop with Maverick Studios at the Greater Newark Boys & Girls Club. Youth built a complete sound system and closed it out with a student-produced public showcase at Newark’s new playground — performing on the very system they built.
- Year
- 2024
- Host site
- Greater Newark Boys & Girls Club
- Delivery partner
- Maverick Studios
- Console
- Yamaha DM3-D
- Close-out
- Student-produced public showcase at Newark’s new playgroundStudent-produced public showcase
It already works. The 2026 Delaware expansion is this pilot, four times over.
Endorsed by the people who matter
Two formal letters of support, from the union that employs this workforce and the network that hosts it.
Backed where it counts.
The union behind entertainment
The 170,000-member stage & live-events union formally backs our work, and is developing a direct training pathway with IATSE Local 8 in Philadelphia.
They formally endorse the expansion — committing students, host sites, ongoing programming, and transportation. Their teen-center director now sits on the AfterShock board.
The 2026 Delaware Expansion
| Site | Builds | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| Dover | 1 | Speaker building |
| Milford | 1 | Speaker building |
| Laurel / Western SussexLaurel / W. Sussex | 1 | Speaker building |
| Brown / Fraim | 1 | Speaker building |
| 120 students targeted in the initial speaker-building phase · $500/mo apprenticeship stipend at Phase 4. | ||
Growing reach across Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware.Growing reach across Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware.
The team behind the build
Working pros, not just teachers — a touring engineer, a union member, a Club director, a producer.Working pros, not just teachers.
Meet the whole crew on the Our Team page.
Trusted partners
We don’t do this alone.
See all our partners → · See the full Workforce Development pipeline →
Give your youth a system — and a future.
Tell us about your site and timeline. We’ll bring the model, the mentors, and the partners.
What happens next
01We reply within a week and set up a scoping call.
02We walk your space, your age groups, and your term dates.
03We scope the build — components, mentors, and the showcase.
04Your youth build the system. It stays with you.
AfterShock Fam · a Philadelphia 501(c)(3) · EIN 85-1124462 · Philadelphia, PA 19154 · info@aftershockfam.org